Reunion (2015)

"An unstable mental patient goes on an overnight rampage to terrorize an ex-rock star and his friends, only to discover she is linked to him in mysterious ways."

It's not often that I watch and review two indie horror screeners in a row. In previous years, I've tended to be more of a mainstream horror movie reviewer and would have preferred to keep things that way. Unfortunately, the theatrical horror releases this year have been fewer and further between than in the mid '90s, and like a lot of other bloggers, I found myself without anything to write about.

Instead of trying to compete with "zero day reviews" for movies in genres which I don't particularly care for, I've even been desperate enough to try reading books in my spare time (oh, the horror!), and I've now offered my services (dubious as they may be) to absolutely anyone who has a new horror movie to keep me entertained. I suppose it could be worse. At least I'm not watching any more sci-fi movies or comedies.

Unfortunately, for my review of the "Reunion" screener, I've only just finished reading Joe Hill's "Heart-Shaped Box" (2007), and ignoring the supernatural elements from that novel, I noticed more than a few coincidental similarities.

“Reunion” and “Heart-Shaped Box” both tell stories which feature a former rock star, contain scenes of domestic abuse fuelled by alcoholism, have characters with memories blotted out, exposition is revealed in flashbacks, and of course, their protagonists get stalked and sliced-up. There are other things, but I'm not allowed to say what they are at this time. My hands are tied, but I'm sure you'll finger it out... I mean figure it out for yourselves. Oops.

Although I've agreed not to give away any spoilers, some key elements also remind me of several of the late Richard Laymon's novels from my misspent youth, and I'll tentatively throw-in that there may also be some nods to "Halloween II" (1981), "Halloween" (2007), and ""Fright" (1971) as well. That being said, "Reunion" is far more modern and more in the realms of "extreme horror" than its precursors.

Lest I be misconstrued, I'm not saying that writer Bert Havird or director Shawn Chou consciously "borrowed" anything, especially as the movie adaptation of "Heart-Shaped Box" has been stalled for years, but "Reunion" is very much in the same vein and will definitely keep Joe Hill fans satiated. I know that I was.

With its non-linear storytelling and somewhat harrowing subject matter, "Reunion" might be a struggle for regular people to get through. There's a lot of shakycam for one thing, and there are several borderline arty moments which could put traditionalists off. If I wanted to be overcritical and harsh, I'd call the cinematography "pretentious and overambitious", but it's always better to be overambitious than to have no ambition at all, isn't it?

It's all very involved, and there's quite a lot (maybe too much) to keep track of. Even with a standard running time of just over an hour and a half, "Reunion" feels much longer and is emotionally draining to watch even for the most hardcore slasher aficionado. Underneath it all, however, you'll be pleased to know that the usual slasher tropes, character flaws, and stupid decisions abound. Yes, there's some fun stuff here too.

As I'm sworn to secrecy about the major plot points, I can't reveal anything more about “Reunion” other than it's a classy production with great performances and gallons of blood. I'm not sure if this movie is going to be as well received by the general horror fandom as something like “Starry Eyes” (2014), but it's likely to be very highly rated by millennial indie horror fans.

“Reunion” stars Maria Olsen, Jack Turner, Sarah Schreiber, Reign Morton, and Cara Santana. The supporting cast includes Ruth Reynolds, Arielle Brachfeld, Christopher Wolfe, Leif Gantvoort, and Matthew Jaeger.

For further details, please check out the official Facebook page.

Here's another teaser trailer:

Lovely Molly (2011)

"Newlywed Molly moves into her deceased father's house in the countryside, where painful memories soon begin to haunt her."

According to one my friends on Twitter, there was a lot of hype surrounding "Lovely Molly" at the London Frightfest. I'm not sure how that same friend missed the chance to see it, but I assume that there either must have been a programming clash with something else which he wanted to see more or he simply missed that day of the convention. Whatever the case, he wanted to know what I thought of "Lovely Molly" so, in spite of never having heard of it before, I gave it a go.

I had no idea that "Lovely Molly" was directed by Eduardo Sánchez or I probably wouldn't have watched it. I've never had anything good to say about "The Blair Witch Project" (1999), and "Altered" (2006) wasn't very memorable. Maybe I shouldn't be prejudiced against certain directors (since most of them are only hired for their ability to boss everyone around on set), but, in the case of Eduardo Sánchez, he's always tried to be something of an auteur. The problem is, of course, that if you set yourself up as such, trying to be all groundbreaking, innovative and original, your movie is either going to be a huge success or completely suck.

However, "Lovely Molly" really surprised me in a good way especially as it was yet another low-budget entry into the horror genre. I wouldn't call the estimated $1,000,000 budget all that low, but, in movie terms, it was the minimum amount which would allow all the bells and whistles for acceptable production values or to hire decent talent both in front of and behind the camera.

I'd hazard a guess that most of the budget was spent on the cast as my one major gripe with "Lovely Molly" is that it seemed to lack a lighting crew. Maybe the intention was to add atmosphere to the already neglected-looking setting, but the gloominess comes across as annoying and a product of some very amateur camerawork particularly in daylight when the sun was behind the actors.

That nitpicking aside, the acting is phenomenal. Gretchen Lodge, in particular, is not only very beautiful and realistically so, but she is outstanding in her role as Molly. Although, physically, she occasionally reminded me of Cécile De France from "High Tension" (2003), she really brings her character to life, and her personality change as the story progresses wouldn't be out of place in an Academy Award nominated movie. According to the IMDb, this is her first movie, and that makes her performance even more incredible. If only every horror actress was this good, we wouldn't have all those embarrassing wannabes in the "Women of Horror" clique who I'm sure you've all encountered over the years.

I didn't really bother to look up the credentials of the other actors and actresses involved as there are no bad performances from any of them. Obviously, Alexandra Holden as Hannah, Molly's sister, has another superb yet far too brief role, and Johnny Lewis as Tim, Molly's truck-driving husband, delivers a sympathetic performance which made me feel quite sorry for his otherwise spineless character.

"Lovely Molly" is a very character driven story so it might seem slow to a lot of people. When it started with a wedding, I feared another "[REC]³ Génesis" about to happen, but, fortunately, it was completely different. There are some superficial similarities as, once again, a video camera plays an important part, but this is not a found footage movie or a parody of the genre. "Lovely Molly" is a serious, ballsy, taboo-laden amalgam of admittedly derivative themes set in a very real and low-income environment.

Because this is a fairly recently released movie which you probably haven't seen yet, I'm avoiding the spoilers (and details) as much as I can. Suffice it to say that there is a lot of nudity, some extreme sexiness which I really didn't expect, and all sorts of horrific nastiness, violence, bloodshed, and murder along the way. You can find out a lot more by visiting the official website which I suggest that you do anyway before you watch "Lovely Molly" as there are some "Blair Witch"-style features on there which add a lot of details to the backstory.

I will just add that one of my favourite scenes is between Molly and Pastor Bobby (played by Field Blauvelt), but I'm not going to give away any more than that.

Now that I've had time for it all to sink in, "Lovely Molly" is absolutely the best and most original horror movie that I've seen so far this year. It's a little bit slow to begin with, very confusing near the end, and slightly overambitious, but the acting is worthy of a horror Oscar if such a thing existed.